To The Place That Made Me

To Hillcrest Christian School,

I do not know if you will ever know the impact you had on my life. I'm not sure if I ever portrayed how grateful I am to have had the opportunity to walk your halls. I've never forgotten the friends that I made or the teachers that I had. All that I can say right now is thank you.

Thank you, lunch staff. Thank you for the constant work you performed. Thank you for the days you let me have food even when I did not have enough money to pay for it.

Thank you, janitors. Thank you for keeping our school clean and doing your job with a smile.

Thank you, fellow students. Though not all of us got along and some of us have lost contact, you all were apart of some of the best years of my teenage life. The memories of homecoming parades, pageants, and even stressing over research papers together are memories that I will always cherish.

Thank you, teachers. If I were to name you all by name, this blog would be too long to read. Thank you for being excited about your job. Thank you for investing in me when I did not want to invest in myself. You all pushed me and prepared me for moments in my life I did not know I was going to have to be prepared for. Thank you for helping me develop my passion for history and for people. I get to go to Germany this summer to see places we talked about in class. I wouldn't have this opportunity if it wasn't for you all. Most of all, thank you for keeping in touch. Thank you for being friends after being my teachers. It's a rarity when you have faculty wanting to invest in your life even after high school.

Thank you, coaches. If I were to be completely honest, I hated basketball practices. I hated running. I hated the pressure of the game, because I never felt like I was going to be good enough. Thank you for teaching me that endurance is a key part of life and that being "good enough" doesn't matter as long as I do my best. Thank you for teaching me that sometimes I have to get up, dust myself off, and keep moving regardless of the circumstances that surround me.

Thank you, Dr. Prather. You always pushed me to be the best that I can be. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my testimony with my fellow classmates. Thank you for not only being a headmaster, but for being a person every student knew that they could turn to if life got hard. You rock, DP.

I do not know if all of my grammar is correct in this blog. I'm sure it'll be corrected, but as I sit in the library of Lee University almost in tears, I know I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Hillcrest Christian School. I am a 21 year old that has the confidence to say I know what I want to do with my life. This is because of how HCS has molded me.
Thank you, Hillcrest.

Sincerely,
A Future School Counselor

Vulnerable

Walls.

Codes.

Locked doors.

That's what people are. We are personified vaults. Inside, we store our valuables. Our dreams. Our stories. Our desires. We have everything we are and everything we hope to be locked up. These things are necessary for building relationships with others. We have to show people the real us, but it's so scary. We are afraid of being vulnerable.

Why does vulnerability have a negative connotation? When we hear the word vulnerable, we automatically think weak. The ability to be hurt is the only thing that consumes our minds. One would figure that would be a correct way of thinking. According to Webster's, the definition of vulnerable is "easily hurt or harmed physically, mentally, or emotionally." That's really intimidating to me. Think about it. It's like saying, "Here I am. You can hurt me now." That is the most terrifying thought in the world, but we have to be that way.

I found another definition of vulnerable that says "appearing as you are." We have to be ourselves. We have to stop acting like we are put together and perfect. I'm definitely not perfect and neither is anyone else on the earth. The key to opening up a person's vault is to be as you are. We must be vulnerable with others. To really get to know others and for others to really get to know us, we have to have the courage to be open for injury. We have to let friends know our deepest desires and fears. They have to know who we are, even with the possibility of being hurt. We have to say, "Here I am. You can hurt me now, but I care too much for you to show you anyone different."

Is that not what Christ portrayed while on earth? Vulnerability? He showed who He really was knowing He would be rejected by some. Some rejected Him so much that they put Him on a cross. He knew the danger of being open, but He did it any way. He cared too much for us to be pious. He is the example of who we need to be.

We have to be open vaults.